Living the Life YOU Want

“There’s an African proverb: ‘When death finds you, may it find you alive.’ Alive means living your own damn life, not the life your parents wanted, or the life some cultural group or political party wanted, but the life that your own soul wants to live. That’s the way to evaluate whether you are an authentic person or not.” - Michael Meade

Image courtesy of Velkol / stockfreeimages.com

Are you living the life you wanted?

Children have a much more simplistic view of the world at large and most have very definite ideas about what they want to be when they grow up. For some, like my son, this may change daily. For others, like myself as a child, they only ever want to be one thing. Then, somewhere along the line on our route into adulthood, those dreams are either forgotten or glossed over. Expectations are placed on our shoulders. We gain responisibilites and before we know it we are stuck in rut doing a job we hate, wondering what might have been. But, what about our responsibility to ourselves?

How did you end up here?

What decisions have you made in your life that led to where you are right now? Were any of those decisions based on what you really wanted for yourself and your life? Unless you are already living the dream (if you are please let us know how you did it in the comments and inspire us all) then I am guessing the answer to that last one is no. But, it's never too late to start.

What is stopping you?

The past has already happened and you are where you are, there is no use overly dwelling on the things that you cannot change. What you can do though is make a change today and start working towards the life you want rather than the life you have fallen into. So, what is stopping you? I am sure for most of you the answer will be a combination of not having enough money or time, or maybe you are afraid of failure or what people may think. In reality, the only thing that is standing in your way is you. If you want something strongly enough you can find a way to make it work.

What you can do right now

I am not advocating that you all quit your jobs to pursue that long held dream, at least not yet, we all need financial security, but you can certainly start working towards that goal right now.

• Start by watching this video and answer the question, what if money was no object? (Don't worry, it'll open in a new window, I'll wait.)
• Now start brainstorming all the things that you could do to help achieve that dream. Remember last monday's post (here), and think in terms of small steps.
• Make a commitment to take one of these small steps at least once or twice a week, or every day if you can. Even if you can only find 10 spare minutes in your day there will be something you can do that will get you that step closer to living the life you want.

Know this, there will never be a right time to start, that perfect moment in the future where you will miraculously have all the time and resources you need to get started. There will always be obstacles, but by committing to one small step a day you will at least be moving forward and truly living your life.

Will death find you alive? Share your dream life in the comments and let us know what steps you are taking to bring it closer. Or, of you're not sure how to break it down into small steps just ask in the comments or contact me here and I will try to help.